What to Know About Other Possible Treatments for Bile Duct Cancer
Doctors are studying other possible treatments for bile duct cancer in clinical trials. Here are four treatments currently being studied:
Immunotherapy or biologic therapy. This is a treatment that makes your immune system act to defend your body against the cancer.
Targeted therapy. These are drugs or monoclonal antibodies that block the pathways necessary for cancer cells to grow. When these pathways are blocked, cancer cells either stop growing or die.
Photodynamic therapy. This treatment uses special light rays to activate a drug that kills cancer cells. It does not destroy the cancer completely. Doctors think it may be able to ease some of the symptoms and slow down the disease.
Radiation sensitizers. This treatment uses drugs that make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Combining radiation therapy with these drugs may kill more tumor cells.
